FAYETTEVILLE (AP) — A former Arkansas drug court judge will make her television debut Monday with a syndicated show filmed in her old courtroom.

Mary Ann Gunn became a local celebrity thanks in part to drug court hearings in northwest Arkansas that were televised on public access channels. Her work caught the attention of TV producers. In June, she resigned to start working on the show, called "Last Shot with Judge Gunn."

The show premieres Monday, and though Gunn tells the Northwest Arkansas Times that she hasn't seen a final version yet, she said she's prepared for feedback.

"I'm ready for the community to watch it and then they can all judge it for the message it hopefully brings to a wider audience," Gunn said in a story published Friday.

Drug courts are designed to allow first-time, non-violent drug offenders to avoid jail time if they complete a treatment program. Gunn was elected to the circuit court in 1998 and took over the drug court in Washington and Madison counties a year later.

Critics complained the televised courts exploited drug offenders and their families, even though participants had to consent to allow their stories to be aired.

The Arkansas Supreme Court Judicial Ethics Committee rebuked Gunn in a nonbinding opinion it issued last September. The committee suggested Gunn could benefit from the publicity, even if she wasn't being paid extra to appear on TV.

"A reasonable person could conclude that putting on a ... television show broadcasting people in their most unfortunate times and the possibility of doing this for a national audience could influence the judge's judicial conduct or judgment," the opinion read.

In May, she announced she was resigning. The show started filming one week after she formally left the bench.

Producers rented a Washington County courtroom for $1,000 a day, with plans to film for 40 to 50 days. The people who appear on camera have already been sentenced to probation. "Last Shot" pays them to appear before Gunn and for their eventual treatment

Gunn says her show is different from "Judge Judy" and numerous other court shows because it focuses on drug court.

"Certainly the message is that drug courts are very successful and (a) viable alternative to prisons," she told the Times.

The National Association of Drug Court Professionals criticized the show's producers for taping the struggles of drug offenders, "an unnecessary burden that could jeopardize their opportunity for successful, life-long recovery."

"Furthermore, by leading the public to believe it is an official Drug Court, Last Shot with Judge Gunn potentially threatens the integrity of real Drug Courts in the public eye and undermines over two decades of unprecedented success," the group said.